Walter von der Vogelweide
But among all these singers, Walter von der
Vogelweide (of the Birds' nests or the aviary) may be
singled out as their highest type. He was the darling
of his own times, and is constantly referred to by
other poets as "their master in the lovely art of
words and tones," "the sweetest of all nightingales,"
&c. It is not known what part of Germany was his
birthplace, but he travelled all over it in the course
of his life; he was a welcome guest at its courts,
especially those of Thuringia and Austria, and he
was a crusader. His poems give us the picture of a
life such as we can well understand in these days,
however different the circumstances may be,--a life
full of travel, and of interest in questions of politics
and religion, and even of literature. For the
frequent reference to each other's works by these
Minne-singers, with criticism or with praise, shows
that those days too had their literary world. A
large number of his poems are like those of the
other Minne-singers, filled with praises of his lady,
and of the May-time,--graceful, tender, often quaint
and naive lyrics. So one begins:--
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